Hiver 1900, Louxor, Egypte (4/4)

J’espère que vos projets d’enfants se réaliseront bientôt, s’ils ne le sont pas déjà. Vous semblez très proche de votre épouse, et j’espère que vous réalisez votre chance, car la mienne est toujours froide dans ses lettres. J’ai promis à ma femme que mon voyage ne durerait pas plus de deux ans. Je suis dans l’incapacité de tenir ma promesse dans ces circonstances, l’équipe a trop besoin de bras en ce moment, et je ne peux pas tout abandonner pour rentrer chez moi… Ma collaboration est d’autant plus nécessaire que je suis toujours le seul à avoir accès à la collection du cheikh, et j’ai découvert dans ses documents la mention d’une tombe qui se trouverait à l’écart des autres, au sud de Louxor et le long du Nil. Des locaux auraient découverts sur les berges, des objets emportés par le courant à plusieurs reprises, ce qui ferait penser à une tombe submergée. J’ai été envoyé en exploration pour résoudre ce mystère, et je ne peux pas renoncer maintenant…

Je ne sais pas encore comment je vais l’annoncer à Eugénie, mais je ne manquerai pas de lui transmettre vos questionnements concernant votre mère lorsque je le ferai. De ce que je sais, toutes les lettres que mon père a jamais reçu sont conservées dans son secrétaire, donc elle n’aura aucun mal à les retrouver.

Votre bien dévoué,

J. Le Bris

After his freak-out, Jaime had a shower and then he rolled up a wish to call Fahad Madbouli in Egypt. I can only imagine that he wanted advice.

Jaime: Hey, Fahad? You’ve got, like, kids? Right?

Fahad: Sure, two of them.

Jaime: So what does it mean when the woman starts screaming her head off?

Fahad: ...........Didn’t you tell me before that you read pregnancy books?

Jaime: Yeah, like two of them?

Fahad: So....You have a problem with reading comprehension, then?

Jaime: What? What’s that supposed to mean? C’mon man, I’m serious! She’s screaming. What do I do?

Fahad: *audible sounds of banging head against wall*

Sims 3: Funke Lunar Living

Chapter 4: Funke Court

Here's a picture of the beautiful sunset in Simhara with the Sphinx in background.

Hear ye, hear ye friends and Lunar subjects and make way for the lovely young queen wanna-be Jasmine Funke who has just arrived home with her father from their trip to Simhara, Egypt. Hi, this is Jasmine's father, Jason cutting in, as you can tell, Jasmine just loves holding royal court every chance she gets and is putting on a show for everyone while she gets to use the film projector to share our most recent photos. While Jasmine is loading the picture slides, I'll share some of the recent events in the Funke household.

Jasmine holding her 'royal court' in Jason's bedroom

First of all, I found myself in a bit of a pickle this week when attending a party hosted by one of my co-workers, Gretel Sekemoto. Over the course of socializing with various guests, I met a woman by the name of Anais Wilhelm who had an immediate attraction to me. Knowing that she lives with her official romantic interest, Stefan Bayless, I tried to keep our conversation to the basic 'get-to-know' you and 'just chat' topics but she kept trying to flirt even though, Stefan was also at the party and in the same room. Before I knew it, Anais (who can be somewhat 'inappropriate' at times) kissed me and as you know that made us instant 'romantic interests'. Fortunately since she initiated the kiss, I wasn't the one who got in trouble as Stefan chewed Anais out for kissing me. We'll have to see if Anais and Stefan can work things out in the future but for now I'll just enjoy being a single dad to my daughter.

Little miss Queen Jasmine following her father inside the Tomb of Discovery

SilverJan already showed some evidence photos of a mysterious prankster who has been setting booby traps around the house in the shower and on some furniture. We think the culprit may be Jasmine's imaginary friend, Jackson since Jasmine insists it wasn't her and besides she spends most of her free time holding 'royal' court or fishing. Once Jasmine becomes a teenager, which will be in a few sim days, she plays to keep Jackson in his doll form in her inventory due to the fact that he rarely pays attention to her since he always argues with himself. At least that's what she tells me.

Jason just entering the last room in the Tomb of Discovery

At the end of the work and school week, Jasmine and I took a trip to Egypt so that I could complete a dare to disarm a trap there. While we there there, Jasmine spent most of her time fishing for the perfect Siamese catfish but caught a perfect Alley catfish and goldfish instead. She also had some of the local paparazzi bowing to her Highness while holding court at the local campground for explorers.

While her father was off looking for turquoise gems and interviewing locals, Jasmine read the book Jason bought her on how to catch crocodiles and mummyfish

Jasmine came along with me on my first adventure while I retrieved some special MorcuCorp papers that were hidden in a treasure chest inside the Tomb of Discovery for Sopdu Hawas. Jasmine collected the ancient coins she found on the floor while I moved statues around while moving from room to room. After delivering the papers to Sopdu and becoming friends with him, he sent me to Salah Kamel to help her with a series of business abroad jobs which included collecting turquoise gems, interviewing locals about MorcuCorp and exploring the Pyramid of the Burning Sands for flame fruit.

She then held court under the watchful eye of the paparazzi who was just off camera.

Since it was the last day of the trip and I already had flame fruit in my inventory from our home garden, I only explored part of the tomb before delivering the fruit to her. Salah then had me interview Tahiya Shalut about an ancient book which apparently is found in an old underground library under the Madbouli home. This may be a problem since Sanaa is the local special merchant and Fahad selling the books at the market so no one is home to let me in. Hopefully Sanaa will stay home long enough at the beginning of my next trip to let me access the old library.

That's the main news from Jasmine and I for now and we hope you enjoy the latest photos. Take care and please join us next time for Jasmine's teen birthday and more travel adventures.

Jason & Jasmine Funke

Callie comes out of the fountain, Calypso continues gossiping, and Colbie walks away while Sanaa’s husband warms her up after that cold fairy trick.

Violet Lovelace. Her father is Fahad Madbouli from Al Simhara.

Hiver 1899, Louxor, Egypte (3/3)

J’ai repris mes occupations au chantier de Deir al-Bahari et j’ai eu la joie de retrouver toute mon équipe là où je l’avais laissée. Toute… ou presque. En arrivant au camp d’Al Simhara, j’appris l’existence d’une dissension avec notre référent culturel égyptien, le cheikh Fahad Madbouli. Je vous ai parlé du bras droit de M. Naville et du caractère abrasif de celui-ci. Mr. Carter a en effet un tempérament chaud, qui a tendance à aggraver les conflits… Une dispute entre Madbouli et Carter a apparemment éclaté peu de temps avant mon arrivée, causant le refus le plus total de coopérer de la part de Madbouli, qui a donc fermé l’accès à sa bibliothèque à l’équipe de fouille, nous privant par le procédé - mais cela était le but - d’une documentation précieuse. Je me suis demandé quel affront avait pu être commis, et être suffisamment sérieux pour causer une telle rupture, mais personne n’a pu m’apporter de réponse satisfaisante tant la mauvaise foi est retentissante des deux côtés.

M. Naville se souvenait des bons rapports que j’entretenais avec Madbouli avant mon départ, aussi me renvoya-t-il à Louxor avec pour mission de convaincre le cheikh de m’accorder un accès à la bibliothèque - si ce n’est pour l’équipe, au moins pour mon usage personnel. Il n’était pas chez lui, aussi décidai-je de faire un tour au souk en espérant que quelqu’un l’aurait vu quelque part, et en espérant passer le temps avant de retenter ma chance. Par chance, je tombai sur lui alors qu’il se rendait au hammam ! Je le suivi, et le hammam étant un lieu propice à une discussion détendue, Madbouli me reconnut, m’accueillit chaleureusement, et nous sympathisâmes davantage. J’entrepris d’en apprendre plus sur la cause originelle de la dispute…

Voici ce que je suis parvenu à reconstituer : la femme de Madbouli avait pris l’initiative de faire apporter une marmite de mouloukhiya au camp - une soupe visqueuse verte de feuilles de jute, qui est aussi le plat préféré de la plupart des Égyptiens, l'un des grands symboles de la culture égyptienne, et une source de leur fierté. Carter, dont l’intérêt pour la culture égyptienne s’arrête à la XVIIIe dynastie, procéda à décrire en détail tout son dégoût pour ce plat, à coup de comparaisons peu ragoûtantes et peu flatteuses… insultant à la fois les goûts du cheikh, la cheikha, et l’Egypte toute entière. Madbouli le lui fit remarquer d’une manière peut-être un peu brusque, mais cela suffit pour enflammer Carter - lequel fut défendu par Naville. Furieux et offensé, le cheikh annonça alors sa rupture avec le projet.

Suite à cette conversation, et visiblement heureux d’avoir été écouté par une oreille extérieure compatissante, Madbouli m’invita à manger chez lui. Contrairement à Carter, qui n’est probablement jamais sorti des hôtels pour occidentaux, j’avais fait l’expérience de la culture égyptienne. Je connaissais donc la générosité et l’hospitalité des Egyptiens, et j’étais également conscient de leur susceptibilité dès lors que l’on parle de nourriture traditionnelle. Je fis la connaissance de l’épouse de Madbouli, qui avait préparé du kochari et de la fatta, et je m’assurai de complimenter la qualité de sa cuisine en particulier et de la cuisine égyptienne en général. Le cheikh et la cheikha en furent vraisemblablement ravis, car ils m’offrirent l’hospitalité et me proposèrent un hébergement dans leur demeure à chaque fois que j’aurais besoin de demeurer à Louxor - ce que j’acceptai de bon cœur, lassé de l’inconfort des petites chambres que je louais dans les appartements au-dessus du souk. Si vous voulez me contacter, vous pouvez donc m’écrire à l’adresse du cheikh Fahad Madbouli - j’ai écrit le détail sur le volet « expéditeur » de cette enveloppe. J’y réside la moitié du temps, car maintenant que je suis le seul occidental autorisé à visiter cette bibliothèque, l’équipe compte sur moi pour les apports en documentation annexe. Constantin serait ébahi par la bibliothèque du cheikh : celle-ci est souterraine pour protéger les livres, souvent anciens, du soleil et de la chaleur, et Madbouli possède également une collection de reliques anciennes que mon cousin saurait certainement apprécier.

Au plaisir de vous lire bientôt, votre bien dévoué,

J. Le Bris

Post Scriptum : Je ne sais pas si vous avez reçu le faire-part de décès envoyé par ma « belle-mère », mais j’ai le regret de vous annoncer que mon père nous a quittés en décembre dernier. Pour tout vous avouer, son état de santé était si déplorable ces dernières années que cela n’était qu’une question de temps, aussi j’ai reçu l’annonce sans surprise aucune. Marie ne répond plus à nos lettres, et il semblerait qu’elle ne demeure plus à l’adresse qu’elle nous avait donné. Si vous veniez à la rencontrer, transmettez-lui la nouvelle s’il-vous-plaît. Il est difficile de s’occuper de toutes ces affaires à distance, aussi ai-je chargé mon oncle Joseph de s’occuper de la succession. En tant qu’évêque, il me paraissait être le membre de ma famille en qui je pouvais avoir le plus confiance.

Hiver 1900, Louxor, Egypte (3/4)

Toutes ces découvertes récentes ne vont pas manquer d’occuper mon équipe, aussi les fouilles sont-elles suspendues à Deir el-Bahari pour le moment. Cela m’occupe tant que j’ai remercié le cheikh pour son hospitalité et j’ai repris mes activités au chantier à temps plein. Celles-ci consistent essentiellement à déplacer du mobilier funéraire et vérifier que l’on ne perd rien : les membres de la Société basés au Caire nous ont signalé il y a deux ans que les momies qui leur ont été envoyées n’avaient plus de pieds, alors même qu’elles étaient intactes à l’origine, et les parties manquantes n’ont pu être retrouvées nulles part…

Automne 1894, Al Simhara, Égypte (5/6)

Depuis un an, j’ai la chance de travailler avec une équipe formidable, constituée de gens charismatique et brillants dans leurs domaines.

À la tête de toutes ces opérations se trouvent M. Edouard Naville, un égyptologue suisse de quarante-neuf ans dont la carrière académique prestigieuse a été sublimée par un sens aigu de l’aventure, qui l’a conduit à parcourir l’Egypte pendant vingt ans et qui est parvenu jusqu'à la seconde cataracte du Nil, près des temples d'Abou Simbel. Ses méthodes uniques et quelque peu excentriques sont ce qui lui valent sa notoriété, puisque M. Naville est extrêmement attaché au fait de conserver les objets dans leur contexte ou, si ce n’est pas possible, à les faire photographier ou dessiner.

L’homme qui le seconde dans cette expédition est un jeune homme brillant de dix-neuf ans, Mr. Howard Carter, qui travaille comme illustrateur en chef. Il est assez difficile de se lier à lui à cause de son tempérament tantôt abrasif, tantôt stoïque, et sa maladresse sociale prononcée…

M. Carter est accompagnée de deux assistants coloristes : le peintre Mr. Charles Sillem et l’aquarelliste Miss Rosalind Paget, qui a l’âge d’être sa mère (en voyant comment elle le traite, on se demande parfois si elle ne l’est pas…) et qui est la seule présence féminine de notre groupe. Miss Paget cultive les talents, puisqu’en plus de ses compétences d’illustratrice, elle est également une infirmière renommée et c’est elle qui est en charge des soins de l’équipe.

Nous sommes également accompagnés d’un savant égyptien, M. Fahad Madbouli, diplômé de la prestigieuse université islamique d’al-Azhar et présent sur le site en tant que référent culturel. Il possède une bibliothèque très riche portant sur le patrimoine égyptien, il parle sept langues, et il est toujours de conversation passionnante.

Viennent ensuite les petites mains, dont je fais partie, et dont l’essentiel du travail est de permettre que ces gens d’esprit et de talent puissent accomplir le leur dans de bonnes conditions. Notre métier concerne tout ce qui touche à l’excavation des sites : il consiste à ouvrir les tombes, s’assurer qu’on puisse les parcourir sans danger, tester la solidité des fondations, et vérifier que les artistes puissent entrer pour y enregistrer et y copier les reliefs peints. Nous sommes deux à ce poste : moi-même et mon assistant M. Timoléon Rojard, un métisse qui est le fils d'un archéologue français et d’une égyptienne.

Les autres membres de l’équipe sont égyptiens. Farid Kamel, dont j’ai déjà parlé, est notre drogman : il fait le lien entre nous et les ouvriers égyptiens du chantiers, qui pour la plupart ne parlent ni l’anglais, ni le français.

Jaime’s middle name is “Class.” 🙄

Jaime: Hello. I am here to invade your privacy and snoop around in that slick library that you inexplicably have under your house, where I will undoubtedly steal some precious artifacts. You cool with that, bro?

Fahad Madbouli: Yeah, whatevs, man. I’mma go bang my wife while you do that.

Which, no lie, is exactly what went down. Because sometimes That Mod is hilarious. Also, they have a very excited and very inappropriately-dressed-for-the-weather child, who was conceived the last time Jaime invaded their town. I was gonna change her outfit, but....naaaaaaah. It’s too awesome as it is. LOL

Hello Everyone!

Hope you're all having a great weekend so far.

I've been visiting (playing) with my Wild Darling family this past couple of days. My visit with them is not quite finished but here are a few photos for this month's 'Into the Woods' photo theme.

First up is Dana's former imaginary friend, Daniel who stopped by for a visit. When imaginary friend dolls are just kept in a Sim's inventory sometimes they show up unannounced in their 'human' form that only their friend can see. Daniel aged up and this is what he would look like if he had been made real. After becoming Sophie Rodger's girlfriend at her prom, Dana just kept his doll in her inventory. He stuck around for the day and left when Dana went to bed that night. Guess he would fit the 'cryptid' part for this month since Daniel isn't a real sim.

Ana took a trip to Egypt get some Pemmican for her husband, Kory whose boss wanted some. While she was there, the special merchant, Fahad Madbouli sent her on a mission to 'Get torched, Get Soaked and Cursed by a mummy'. She actually got torched twice, once in the Great Pyramid when she failed in her attempt to cross a fire trap but managed to get over to the Pyramid of the Burning Sands in time to dive into a well there. The second time, Ana accidentally stepped on a hidden floor trap in Tomb of the Rock part of the pyramid instead of inspecting the floor first. Silly Ana then ran past two close by dive wells to another one to soak herself. Guess she likes the rush of energy she gets when surviving 'getting torched'.

Anyways back to this 'cryptid' photo. Ana was able to defeat this mummy she found inside the Sphinx. Since Ana has two soulpeace gems in her inventory, getting cursed by mummies just hasn't happened so she decided not to completed the 'Getting Cursed' part of her mission so Fahad will have to find some other poor explorer to do it.' More on her trip in the next official Wild Darlings update.

Here's a 'Watching the Stars' photo of Dana gazing at them with her girlfriend, Sophie Rodgers on their first date together. Unfortunately the moment is only saved in photo since the game decided to crash during a save attempt that had more to due with the McAfee on my laptop doing an update at the same time than the game itself. The previous save was from before their date but am sharing the photo anyway.

That's all for now and hope that you're all having a great day and trouble free (or mostly) gaming fun with your Sims. Will have an official update for the Wild Darling family later which may include some brainstorming on how Generation two will shape up in the near future.

Take care!

Silver Jan

Sims 3: Silver Bells Family

Silver Grandparents

Welcome back to the humble home of Grandpa and Grandma Bell for another visit with their growing family. Please help yourselves to some vegetarian Dim Sum or spaghetti freshly cooked by new Grandma Jan while Gussie entertains you on his guitar. There's a new putting golf mat in the backyard to practice your golf swings with or you can relax in the hot tub after a long day in the sun.

In the above two photos, Grandma Jan is rocking her newborn grandson, Robbie. We then have Grandpa Gussie putting little Robbie back in his crib after feeding him his bottle.

Yes, you read right Gussie and Jan are now proud grandparents after their son Jessie and daughter-in-law Abbie welcomed their first child into the world. Abbie gave birth to a healthy baby boy whom they named, Robbie. Our little grandson is the cutest little 'excitable' boy but like many youngsters has his 'grumpy' moments. When not teaching at the local school or working in her garden, Grandma Jan can be found rocking little Robbie in the rocking chair or just playing with him when he wakes up from his nap. Abbie is a great mother and is also ready to meet her son's every need. Jessie is a good father, too although he spends a lot of time either painting or working out downstairs when not busy working in the local business office as he strives to become CEO someday.

Little Robbie by his soon-to-be aunt Jessica while she watches some TV.

Jessica beginning to explore the Tomb of the Rock in Simhara

In other family news, Andrew and Jessica are now officially dating and already have a 'faithful reputation'. Hopefully there will be wedding news in the next family update. There hasn't been much traveling this week but Jessica managed to take a trip to Egypt for the local military to learn the secret art of Senet from local Fahad Madbouli with whom, Jessica became friends during their chat. Since Gussie has complete the main missions in Egypt, Jessica did some minor tasks for a few locals like getting photographs of a rubble pile and treasure chest for Sopdu Hawas, the local special merchant, who was making up a new tourist brochure. She also helped food merchant, Shadia Rashid prove that mummies are real by photographing the one she found while exploring the Tomb of the Rock inside the Pyramid of the Burning Sands.

Andrew finally got his new clothes.

That's the main news for now and Grandma Jan will hopefully be back for one more update next time before she and Gussie hand the family story over to generation two as Jessie and Andrew plan to take over with their own families.

In these last two photos we have little Robbie who is now a cute toddler in his new everyday outfit and then sound asleep in his crib later that evening.

Until next time, new grandparents Gussie and Jan hope you all have a great week and summer!

Sims 3: Wild Darlings

Wild Travels & Brainstorms

Hello and welcome back for another visit with the Darling family in Moonlight Falls as the first generation begins to wind down. This update will have the recent family news in a few photos as well a preview of the next generation now that Kory and Ana have reached the tops of their careers.

Here are a few photos of Ana's trip to Egypt. Here she's entertaining Lu Zhi and Sun Young Sim are enjoying Ana's guitar playing and gave her quite a few tips.

Ana getting out of the dive well inside the Pyramid of the Burning Sands after torching herself the second time when she failed to examine an area of the floor in the Tomb of the Rock part of they pyramid that was hiding a fire trap before stepping on it.

Ana completed her lifetime wish a while ago now since she became a 'Hit Movie Composer' in the music career. Kory is a 'World Renown Surgeon' at the local hospital and is still working towards becoming an 'Alchemy Artisan'. He has completed the first part of this goal by reaching level 10 of the alchemy skill but still has use several of his potions on himself or others to reach the required 50 of this lifetime wish. Kory has used twelve of them so far so has 38 more to go. Hopefully he'll be able to do this before their youngest daughter, Koralee is ready to officially take over the family story in generation two.

Ana also had an opportunity to explore the part of the Great Pyramid that was blocked by a big boulder which was probably there to keep the local townies safe from the mummy living there. She had been asked by Shadia Rashid to get a picture of a mummy but unfortunately was attacked by the one she woke up there so could not get the picture.

The biggest news items for this update is that Dana's fairy girlfriend and partner, Sophie Rodgers has moved in with her. Korbin will soon be graduating from high school and then like his older sister will study Fine Arts at university where he has already been award 18 of the required 48 credits to graduate. With a lot of hard work and study, Korbin should be able to finish his degree in two semesters by taking three courses in each one. The family story will focus on Korbin's studies in the next two updates which will allow his parents to withdraw from the spotlight for a bit.

Before Ana left for Egypt, Dr Kory Darling held a 'free health clinic' at the performance park across from the hospital.

Getting back to Ana, her music career boss asked her to travel to Egypt on a promotional gig to earn 1000 Simoleons in tips while playing her guitar there. Since she has maxed the skill, it wasn't hard to get the other explorers who were staying at the camp to stick around and listen to the beautiful music she was making. It took about two days of her trip to get the required tips in addition to getting torched and soaked a couple of times for Fahad Madbouli but due to her having two soulpeace gems in her inventory, she could not get cursed even though she lost two out of three fights with mummies. Ana also took a photo of a rubble pile for Fahad's new tourist brochure before coming home.

Meet Dana's girlfriend and partner, Sophie Rodgers who was adopted as a toddler Linda Rodgers who now a retired chef. Sophie's favorite color is pink and she wants to become a Superstar Athlete and has already joined the athletic career. She's very athletic and a natural born performer. Despite having her 'hot-headed' moments, Sophie is friendly and family-orientated.

That's the main news for now but as the title of this update suggests I've been brainstorming as to how to divide up the household for generation two which I will share in point form below. Feel free to comment on what you think of the ideas or add suggestions.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend and have lots of simming fun.

Silver Jan

Generation 2 Brainstorming Notes

First in my game play, I generally do not have Seasons or Into the Future activated as I've found that while they work better now, they can still cause lagging issues with my game since Seasons is a large file. So, I'm thinking of creating a game save or two that uses Seasons but deactivate a few of the other expansion packs to see how that goes and whether or not it will affect my other saves.

Thought I'd try this with Dana and Sophie and play them just until they complete their careers and/or LTWs. Korbin may join him with his werewolf prom romantic interest Hank Gandillon if I can add him to the household so that he can change into his human form to age up to a young adult.

Since Kory and Ana will soon be retreating from the spotlight altogether, they plan to hand the family legacy home over to their youngest daughter, Koralee continue with in generation two along with her high school sweetheart, Nathanial Levin who is one of the town's current babysitters. They will move to a new game save as this one has just finished it's 13th Sim week not including Dana's university years. Almost all of the tombs in Egypt have been explored so it will soon be time for fresh start for them, too.

I plan to share Kory & Ana as a household to my studio so that they can live out their golden years in other games or just live happily ever after.

Sorry about this long post but sometimes I just need to write out my brainstorms. Due to the 'As-it-Happens nature of my game play these ideas are subject to change.

Generation Two: Business Bells

Week 2: Business Adventures

Greetings and Salutations from Jessie and Abbie Bell in Hidden Springs with another fun-filled update of their recent adventures. As always please make yourselves at home while Abbie loads our most recent digital photos to the big TV screen in the upstairs sitting area. For any who love to play golf, there's a small putting green where you can practice your swing. Jessie is busy getting the drinks and snacks ready in the kitchen.

Before getting into the travel photos, here's Abbie cuddling her new daughter, Josie.

The biggest news that Jessie and Abbie would like to share happened in the middle of the week when they welcomed their second child and first daughter into the world. Her name is Josie and she's a 'good' little girl and very aware or 'perceptive' of her surroundings. Josie will soon be able to explore her home once she becomes a toddler.

Here are some photos of Abbie's trip to Egypt beginning with her breaking down a rubble pile for the first time.

Abbie taking a breather after opening this chest before she woke up the mummy by looking into the treasure chest behind her. Since she's not athletically inclined and not that brave, Abbie got out of there as fast as she could but managed to snap a picture of the mummy as she was leaving the room.

Abbie and Jessie each took a trip overseas to complete opportunities given to them from contacts in Hidden Springs. First Abbie traveled to Egypt on a quest from the local adventuring club to disarm a trap to prove herself worthy of joining the group. Her first adventure in Simhara was to photograph a floor trap which she did while exploring the Tomb of the Rock inside the Pyramid of the Burning Sands. In addition to photographing the floor trap hidden in the lower level, Abbie was able to disarm it on her first trip. She then explored the rest of the tomb and woke up a mummy with the last treasure chest she opened. Although she's a coward and afraid of the dark, Abbie she manage to take a picture of the mummy before escaping without being attacked.

Snapped this photo while Abbie was getting to know Sanaa in front of the hall mirror before she continued on her mission to find the ancient book.

Abbie beginning her search in musty old library for the book that Salah Kamel wanted.

The next day Abbie was able to continue with the 'Business Abroad' adventures for Salah Kamel by retrieving the ancient book from the underground library that was located under the Madbouli home. She then convinced the local relic merchant, Fahad Madbouli to give her the 'Relic of the Sun' in exchange for some copper bars. Abbie wasn't able to collect any mummitonium on the last day of her trip for the next mission but will be returning to soon to complete that job as well as take a photograph of Abu Simbel for a local business in Hidden Springs.

Here are a few photos from Jessie's trip to France beginning with him pulling the heavy statue into place while searching in the Forgotten Burial Ground tomb for Colette's missing baseball.

Taken just before Jessie headed down to the lower level of the tomb.

Jessie's boss in the business career sent him to France to secure a business deal with local special merchant, Gustave Delven. He then helped the general merchant, Colette Bonnet find the baseball she lost down a hole at the Forgotten Burial Ground. The locals should be more careful when playing catch in that area as many have lost baseballs down that hole. Thankfully Jessie was able to explore the tomb and found her ball in another hole in a big room on the lower level. Since Jessie had traveled to France while still living in Appaloosa Plains, he had already earned his first France visa level so he decided to do the five day trip.

Jessie having one of his 'neurotic' moments as he entered the Landgraab Chateau to find the Admiral's papers on the history of nectar making in France for Gustave Delven.

After returning the baseball, Jessie helped Gustave with his research into the history of nectar making in France. On the third day of his trip, Jessie continued the lessons he started before on how to make good nectar with the current nectar merchant, Yves Bernard. He is currently on the third part of these lessons which is to make a bottle of very nice or higher quality of nectar for Yves. Since there are great quality nectar grapes in the family garden back home, Jessie decided to cut his trip short and make the stuff back home. Before catching his flight, Jessie caught a few frogs so that he could make his own frog's legs for dinner.

In this last photo, we have Jessie's son Robbie playing tag with Minzi Cho before dinner. This 'play date' with Simon Cho's children turned into an impromptu sleepover when Simon went to sleep in one of the family's sarcophagus's. At the end of the evening, Davy was head to Robbie's treehouse to sleep and Minzi was still decided where she would sleep.

That's the main news for now and Jessie hopes that you enjoy the included pictures. Time to clean up the kitchen after Simon Cho and his children, Davy and Minzi joined the family for dinner after spending the afternoon having some playtime with Robbie.

Have a great day everyone!